SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — A body that washed up on a Northern California beach nearly two decades ago has finally been identified as that of a missing teenager.

Seventeen-year-old Cengiz Nuray was last seen at Greyhound Rock Beach in Santa Cruz on April 27, 1995.

The Salinas Californian (http://bit.ly/1DGexTW ) reports the Santa Barbara native had been following the Grateful Dead band with a group of friends.

A few months after a missing person report was filed, a badly decomposed body was found down the coast near Asilomar Beach in Monterey Bay.

Until recently, Nuray was considered a runaway.

Last month, Pacific Grove police and the coroner's office sent DNA from badly decomposed remains to a state laboratory.

The DNA was linked to Nuray via the FBI's DNA index system. His family has been notified.